Pretty good advice. I sell and buy (unfortunately,I buy twice as often as I sell-pretty typical of an enthusiast with way too many interests) on Ebay a lot. Probably typical of a lot of us. See something you want so you bid/buy it thinking, "I'll just sell the extra Shimano XTR super duper whatever, and it will pay just about pay for this new gadget,bike,frame,motorcycle part etc." Of course, the XTR super duper sells for maybe 40% of the item you just bought. Well, you get the picture-I'm a pretty active buyer/seller-325 or so transactions.
The most helpful advice is to carefully read the feedback of the guy you are doing business with. Don't just read it, look for patterns-does he have lots of positives from the same guys? Do his buyers and bidders tend to buy and bid on one anothers stuff. Does he have low transaction bidders bidding and rebidding EARLY in his auctions? Hey-IT NEVER MAKES SENSE TO BID EARLY!!!! Occasionally, someone might bid early in the hopes of scaring off competition, but not often. ALWAYS BE SUSPICIOUS OF EARLY BIDDING,ESPECIALLY IF IT IS HIGH(SAY 75% OF A GOOD PRICE 4 DAYS BEFORE THE END), AND ESPECIALLY IF IT IS DONE BY A LOW-UNDER 20-TRANSACTION BIDDER. There is loads of SHILL BIDDING going on on ebay.
Like someone said, if it is too good to be true-it is a ripoff.There are 100's of folks looking at the same items you are-you aren't going to "steal" anything.
I have had good luck with Paypal.Of course, they beat you out of 4% when you are a seller, but C'est la vie.
I generally accept Paypal and USPS MO. USPS MO are a bit harder to forge,and you can cash them at the PO. Bank checks,Certified checks,Cashiers checks etc are just pieces of paper. Anyone with a computer and printer can make them, so don't buy that" a Cashiers check is just like cash" BS. It is a 3x7 piece of paper.
Usually no one is going to go to a lot of trouble to beat you out of the $20-$50 parts-items I usually sell. It is the pricy stuff-frames, bikes etc that go for $300+ that bring out the scammers.
One advantage of selling on a forum is that you tend to get a feel for fellow members- who sells "distressed" items, who has very low cosmetic standards etc.Luck.Charlie

Thanks for your mail,the price is reasonable and i also love the bike,Well i would have loved to come and pay cash and take the bike from you but i will be on my way to UK for my daughters wedding,I have just contacted my shipper right now and i was told he is out of town.So i will send you a money order,as soon as you receive it,exchange it for cash at your local bank and take your money out and send
the rest of the money to my shipping agent in south Africa via MONEY GRAM money transfer ,who will come over for pick up andalso pick some other furniture and wedding materials i bought from a friend for my daughter and have them shipped to South Africa for me. Please get back at me with your name,address and contact phone
number so that i can send the payment before i leave tonight.
Waiting to hear from you.
Thanks

Yeah, okay I'll send him money to someone when he is suppose to buy from me! God love the guys for trying. The real problem is that he will most likely become more polished in his presentation and others will likely fall for it.

Thanks for the heads-up. I'm dealing with a character from the UK that can't spell, doesn't confirm the item he is buying, wants to send a certified or cashiers check for over the amount of the item to cover shipping costs and insists I cash the check immediately so it clears my bank before shipping the item. He does not know the amount of the check he is sending but any amount over the agreed price of the bike (shipping costs) must be returned to him Western Union. He will not give me a phone number and his only response to my emails over the last few weeks is "please inform me when payment arrives." How can we nail these scam artists? I have his UK email address. Can the dog be tracked down thru that?

Thanks for the heads-up. I'm dealing with a character from the UK that can't spell, doesn't confirm the item he is buying, wants to send a certified or cashiers check for over the amount of the item to cover shipping costs and insists I cash the check immediately so it clears my bank before shipping the item. He does not know the amount of the check he is sending but any amount over the agreed price of the bike (shipping costs) must be returned to him Western Union. He will not give me a phone number and his only response to my emails over the last few weeks is "please inform me when payment arrives." How can we nail these scam artists? I have his UK email address. Can the dog be tracked down thru that?

I called my guys bluff before he sent the fake check. If you have the time to follow through there is a Goverment Division set up to handle this crap.
The link is IC3.GOV. It has ties to the FBI.

I put my phaser up for sale and so I have receaved only 5 scams. Samples so far
Date: Fri, 1 Jun 2007 17:35:39 -0700 (PDT)
From: "mary jones" Add to Address Book Add Mobile Alert Yahoo! DomainKeys has confirmed that this message was sent by yahoo.com. Learn more
Subject: Phaser Folding Recumbent by Human Powered Machines Price: $2000
To: macmclain1948@yahoo.com

Hello,
Good day to you!am interested in purchasing
your item without no further delay,but first?What is
the final price of the item? Will you be accepting a
US certified Cashiers Check ?Also i will be using my
private shipping company to pickup the item,but the
payment you are going to receive will include some
excess fund which you are to send to the shipping
company that will come for the pickup of the item,so
here are the questions i will like to asked you below.

1.Can i trust you with the money?
2.Will you be able to wire transfer the excess the
same day you receive the check or money order ?
3.Will you be available when the shipping company will
be coming for the pickup?
4.Is the working condition of the ITEM okay?
5,Is the item still available?
6.Can i take you for your words?

Contact me with the present state of the item and your
contact information to mail out the payment to as soon
as possible.Name you want on check: Home Address:
City:State: Country: Phone Number/Office Number.

GOOD DAY Seller,Am interested in the immediate purchase of your item and i will like you to get back to me with the conditions of the item and the pics,if you are willing to take Check get back to me with the Total Price? of the item now via email okay i await your response,
Regard"s

I've been scammed once on E-Bay -- by a seller with many sales and over 95% positive ratings. Thought I was safe. Unfortunately, almost all of the bad 5% were recent. E-Bay shut the guy down a few days after my purchase. Unfortunately, I lost my money -- and never got the %#$@ Ipod either. Guess I should have known something was up when he used an obscure escrow.
Lesson: I never buy unless they accept Paypal. Also, even for sellers with high ratings, I check the most recent ratings before bidding.

Using Escrow is a hassle and costs you. Paypal does not cost buyers at all, so use Paypal only. They protect your purchase as long as you claim within 45 days of the closing of the auction. Really crooked dealers will try to string you along for 45 days, with shipping delays and other excuses, and then rip you off. Beware and claim after giving them at least two weeks to deliver. Feedback means very little unless the count is high and they have 100% rating. Read between the lines in the feedback. Look for clues such as slow delivery, poor packaging, no communication and withdrawn negative feedback. I was ripped off for $105CDN by a real good seller because he knew that I was in Canada and could not come after him. One day I will go down and kick Michael Knight. age 67, from Red Oak, Texas in his wrinkled ass!

Beware of accepting Paypal payments for your valuables to be shipped out of the US. One would think that Canada would be a safe place to sell to and accept Paypal payment, right? Wrong! Not if the buyer uses a credit card to fund the transaction. Even if they get you item in the condition stated they can tell their credit card company anything they want and you will lose the money when you get hit with a charge-back. Paypal will simply debit the money from your account. Instead request an International Postal Money Order and cash it at your local post office before your ship the goods. I recently had a Canadian offer my wheelset and kept trying to persuade me to take Paypal even though I specificed no foreign Paypal in my ad. They finally promised that they sent me an international postal money order. It's been over a week and payment has not arrived. I don't know how long it takes a letter to be delivered from SK, Canada to Los Angeles but 7 days seems a bit on the long side. Help me out here if you know that it takes at least a week. Anyhow I still have my wheels and can always sell them again if I don't receive the m.o. It pays to be patient and vigilent.

On ebay you can specify that you will only accept payment by paypal funds transfer and not by credit card. Then you should have the normal seller protection.

This is totally inaccurate, it doesn't matter where you're from you can still succumb to a CC charge back. Kind of lame to single out Canada, every vendor who deals with CC's has this risk.

Smart:
1) Make sure PP is confirmed
2) Get address and talk to person on the phone
3) Ship ONLY to that confirmed address.
4) Ship with a tracking number and proof of delivery.

Again, being in Canada, US or anywhere else has no bearing on who can do a CC charge back, anyone can phone their CC and claim! It's up to you, the seller, to take precautions.

I've been doing Ebay/Paypal sales for many years and I do NOT get scammed, because I'm smart about it.